Many video editing and special effect applications require segmentation of one or more objects from video image frames. Examples of such editing and special effects operations include image background replacement, video composition, and cinemagraph generation (where the relative playback speed of one or more objects is changed). Additional video application examples that require object segmentation include scene understanding tasks such as object tracking and recognition. In all such cases, the quality of the object segmentation is generally important to the final product. Traditionally, artists have used frame by frame manual or semi-automatic techniques provided by photo editing tools. Such tools can be expensive, however, and oftentimes require relatively advanced training and skill on the part of the user. Additionally, these techniques tend to be not well suited for use on mobile devices, which have become a popular mechanism for video capture and sharing on social media, but tend to be more limited in processing capability and memory capacity.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent in light of this disclosure.